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Aid, Employment, and Poverty Reduction in Africa

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  • John Page
  • Abebe Shimeles

Abstract

Growth and poverty reduction in Africa are weakly linked. This paper argues that the reason is that Africa has failed to create enough good jobs. Structural transformation―the relative growth of employment in high productivity sectors―has not featured in Africa's post-1995 growth story. As a result, the region's fastest growing economies have the least responsiveness of employment to growth. The role of development aid in this context is problematic. Across Africa more aid went to countries with a low employment intensity of growth.

Suggested Citation

  • John Page & Abebe Shimeles, 2014. "Aid, Employment, and Poverty Reduction in Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-043, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2014-043
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    References listed on IDEAS

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